Friday, February 26, 2010

Crocodoc is a site I just learned about from Larry Ferlazzo's wonderful blog. This is a place where people can upload their data and then have users collaborate on it via a unique URL. This is done by annotating/highlighting, etc.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Stat Planet is an excellent site for mapping/visualizing data, that I found out about from Richard Byrne. It's a nice resource for students (sociology, economics etc) because it is based on different cultural themes and is completely interactive.

Magic Studio is a terrific multi-media site for educators. It is a place where users can create, view, upload their data which could include: videos, audio, time lines, quizzes, etc.

Another nice feature of MS is that everything is done in a drag/drop user interface which makes it very easy for a person to use. It feels a little bit like Voice Thread in that regard. Add to that a very nice tutorial and you have the recipe for a really nice tool to use in the classroom.

The only feature I see missing is an educational instance which would allow teachers to create student accounts and have everything being moderated before it gets posted online.

SortFix is a search engine designed to refine a user search results by editing searching data. For example, I did a search on my name which returned specific results, which I could then alter to refine my search even more.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

I've posted before on Web 3.0 and evolution of the internet before, but after reading a great article on the matter I decided to give another post.

Most resources say that the next phase of the web will be the, semantic web. That the web will learn as you browse (kinda like TiVo would) and offer a more customized browsing experience. For example, if you wanted grab a bite to eat and catch a movie, you can in "theory" do it all in one search using meta data known as ontologies. This is a system which is based on tagging and take a lot of work. However, it's this data that a computer can use to determine relationships between one and another.

Eyeplorer is a search engine which uses a Web 3.0 engine. Give it a try by clicking here.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Story Jumper is an excellent new site for creating either online stories or actual hard cover copies of your book. The user interface is very simple to use and it reminds me a lot of My Story Maker. All a person has to do is select a scene (blank if you don't want to use a template) add their characters, objects, text and then publish their book.

If a person would like to get a copy of their book they can do that too starting at $24.99.

Tv Ark is a site I just learned about from the wonderful blog, Zarco English. This is an online tv museum intended to preserve the history of the video medium. This is an online tv museum intended to preserve the history of the video medium.

or straight from their site... "The site is intended as a tribute to the work of television presentation and graphics, and to preserve a slice of our social history. TVARK is above all an educational resource. It is popular at home and abroad, used by teachers and students in schools and colleges."

I definitely think this is a valuable resource and something I would loved to have when I when doing my

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Google Buzz is a new service by Google which is getting a lot of "buzz" over the internet. (I know, I know, stop w/ the jokes.) Anyway, after watching the video and trying it out myself I must say that I'm quite impressed. It reminds of a cross between Facebook and Twitter w/ Google Wave mixed in. Plus, Google Buzz is already integrated into gMail a user doesn't have to do anything.

So, what does Google Buzz do? It allows people to follow their Google Contacts easily and see what their posts are, similar to Twitter. Also, a person can choose to like a post (a la Facebook), upload/view photos/video right in the window (a la Wave), etc etc.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

YouTube safety mode is finally here. This should make it feasible for school to districts to "lock down" YouTube at the browser level. It even filters out comments which is ideal when in a school setting!!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

GoT is a site I just learned about from Alex Fransisco's excellent blog, Zarco English. This is a mash-up of Google Blogs and Twitter and is a really nice search engine to use when searching for whats new in technology.

Papershow is a new interactive presentation kit that will be debuting on a Mac later this week at the MacExpo. The $200 kit comes w/ a blue tooth pen, USB, and special paper. After watching the video (which I highly recommend) it is kind of like having your very own teleprompter attached your visual presentations.

I can really see the benefit of something like this in both the business world and educational field.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Citrify is a new site for editing photos online. There are a bunch of tools that do this such as Avairy but Citrify is one of the nicest ones around. For example, when a user uploads a photo it opens up a new browser window to edit the photo. There is no distracting images/text in the side windows. Also, there are a lot of nice features that a person can use to modify their image such as: touch-ups, special effects, and stickers.

I had the great pleasure of catching an excellent special on PBS on technology and how it influences our lives. It is presented in a smooth and fluid format w/ a history of technology and how it has evolved over the years.

What made this program so intriguing as how it covered both sides of a situation. For example, multi-tasking is a theme brought up and how it is so prevalent in today's society. Schools are going one to one, mobile devices are more and more common, and kids today are born as digital natives. The way people get their information is drastically different then how they did 20 years ago. I like how this documentary covered both the good and the bad of technology. While some studies show that students in a one to one situation do better on test scores. It also shows that people aren't necessarily able to learn/retain information better when multi-tasking.

It's a very interesting topic of conversation. Are students that have a laptop in school able to learn better? Well, I think the answer is yes and no, that it depends on the individual. Yes, students can get to information easier but they will also have more distraction w/ a device that can get online. However, that being said I do think that this is the wave of the future, and more and more one to one environments will be happening.

This program also focused on using technology as a marketing tool for the military as well as how some people have become anti-social as addicted to online gaming.

Friday, February 5, 2010

WordItOut is a site similar to Wordle for creating word clouds. I first heard about this great site from Zarco English one of the great resource sharing blogs out there. What makes WIO so great is how easy it is to use. All a person has to do is paste text in and click create. Also, the user has the ability to tweak their settings and even embed their cloud into their site.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Finally, I was able to start revising my digital books w/ new content. V. III now has 13 new reviews as well as being up on Mixbook as well as Bookrix. The reason for this is, I want educators to have the latest content as well as being in any format they so choose.

What's exciting is I am now able to turn these digital books into "real" ones which will be handed out at conferences as well as raffled off online through here.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Vidinotes is a site I just learned about from the excellent blog, Zarco English. This is a site which lets you comment on uploaded videos (flv. format only) in text/audio, and then create a PDF of those notes.

The reason I like Vidinotes so much is because of how easy it is, and that there is nothing out there quite like this.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

AuthorStream is a great site to upload/share powerpoint documents. In a way it's similar to slideshare w/ more options. Once a user uploads their slideshow, they can either embed them into their site, make them available for download, link to it directly, or even create their own "room" (think YouTube) to "house" all of their presentations.

This really is a neat site to take your powerpoint presentation to the next level.

Magnoto is a new (beta) site that is similar to Glogster. It is designed to create an interactive wall/web page. The user interface is fairly simple as you can drag/drop all of your multi-media content wherever you like.

For this to be a real eye-opener for educational, it would need a specific instance such as Glogster. This way teachers could monitor and create user accounts for students. However, that being said due to the simplistic design I recommend giving Magnoto a look.

I've never really written about back channel applications before until now. Chatzy is a great free site for creating a safe/secure chat room. This is ideal for an educator looking for a quick easy way to create a quick private room to host a chat. The one feature that I think would be nice is if they made it available to embed your chat into a site.

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David Kapuler

I have been working w/ technology and education for over 14 years in a school setting. I'm looking for work in a K-12 environment as a Technology Integration/Support Specialist in WI/IL. Contact email - dkapuler@gmail.com
I'm currently looking to get my Mac OS/Repair Certification, as well as a Masters in Technology Integration.
Also, I have a solid background in web design, w/ network/server support.
On a personal note, I';m a proud father of 3 boys and 1 girl, and have been married for 10 years.